Peter Schreyer named president of Kia

Peter Schreyer, chief design officer at Kia Motors and the man largely credited with the company's recent design transformation and subsequent success, has been appointed president.

He is the first non-Korean to hold that title in the company's history.

Schreyer, 59, joined Kia in 2006 from the Volkswagen Group. His award-winning work at Kia includes a long line of concept cars and new product introductions. He has overhauled the Sportage, Optima and Rio for Canadian roads along with European and Korean models like the Ceed, K7, Quoris and Picanto.

In 2013, the last volume product in Kia's range to come under his design philosophy  Carens  is due to be unveiled, complete with the Schreyer-inspired family look as well as the first sporty model to be added to the Cee'd range.

The German born Schreyer studied at the Royal College of Art before becoming part of the Volkswagen Group's design team. His most notable work with VW included contributing to the Passat and the Audi TT.

There is no indication from how his new position will effect his current role as chief designer.